Thumbs down to Hartford firm that took state money to grow staff but cut it instead

A heartfelt thumbs up to Stuart Scott, the great ESPN anchor who died Sunday after seven-year battle with cancer, and no heavyweight champion ever fought harder. Mr. Scott’s enthusiasm, style, intelligence and insight got the world to tune in to SportsCenter.

Thumbs down to members of the task force created by Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra to examine the troubled Hartford Fire Department. Three of its members met recently without telling the public, the mayor or even other members of the group. To say the least, that's an inauspicious beginning to the panel's work. A mayoral spokeswoman said that any future meetings "will be publicly notified ahead of time." Gee, let's hope so.

Thumbs up to The Great Connecticut Caper, an online serialized mystery story for young people that's a project of the Connecticut Humanities Council. From now until June, a new chapter of the adventure will be posted every month, each written by a different author, with the goal of engaging students and promoting reading. It's a great way to reach kids through technology — plus, we can't wait to discover how it turns out.

Thumbs down to Hartford-based Smith Whiley & Co., which got a state grant and loan to increase its workforce of 12 employees to 15. Instead, The Courant's Jon Lender reported, the firm cut its in-state staff to eight — and still kept the grant (with a minuscule increase in the interest rate of a state loan). The firm said it's "in full compliance" with the agreement with the state. If so, that's a very badly written agreement. How about being in full compliance with the trust shown by state taxpayers, who appear to have gotten taken?

Thumbs up to Southington's Howard Burke for his holiday spirit — and the help he has given the town's Community Services food pantry — even though he had to turn off his "Lights on Lovley" home decorations. The spectacular went from 10,000 lights in 2008 to 50,000 this year. He asks viewers to bring food pantry items, and last year more than a ton of food was donated. But this year, the traffic became too much, alas.